What a timely topic given where we're at currently.
And hello after rather a long absence - DH is having issues confronting his lack of real expertise in computer maintenance. And sometimes I need some time in my cave (or were we women supposed to have a well?).
DS6's public school has never full-grade accelerated a student before and the vibes we've had about it have not been particularly positive - the teacher we've asked for next year has assured me that she currently has some "very very" gifted children in her class who go up to the next grade for maths lessons, and I don't think she sees the need for anything more controversial. It's a small school with only 1 1/2 classes in his year, and I don't see any other kids in his year like him. But while I don't think the school quite understands what we're getting at, they have moved him up to Grade 1 three mornings a week and started giving him take-home readers (which seemed to effectively end the anger/unhappiness issues we'd been having). They've agreed to a multi-age 1/2 class for next year, and the receiving teacher has apparently decided to sign up for gifted ed training. That last really impressed me.
But this week I also had a tour of a reasonably nearby public school with GT specialisation, which doesn't feel particularly constrained by the calendar year batch and box system. Even with just a whirlwind tour the difference in the children and what they were learning was striking. They have a waiting list, but would put us at the top. On the other hand, what with the nature of the school and the area it's in, there's apparently a pretty competitive, results-focused culture among many parents. I'd heard this beforehand and one of the teachers said it does tend to be the case. I have no argument against parents who take that approach, but it's not my approach. And then, what with being of the left-greeny persuasion, I can't shake off a feeling of wrongness about the discrepancy between the facilities at the GT richer-area school and our current working class/migrant school. Would enrolling my children there make me a self-serving hypocrite? Or would not doing it be indulging my values at the expense of my children's best interests?
DH thinks I'm crazy. But then he's a "T" and I'm an "F", perhaps that's a critical difference. And I've been so constantly worried about all this for most of the year that I'm pretty sure I'm not functioning at my best re rational evaluation. I flip between anxiety, grief, denial and repetitively singing mournful Patsy Cline songs (relevance to education?). But either choice would see us lose something valuable - either a community school with a lot of heart and an apparent willingness to listen, or expertise and like minds.
